Separable auto body construction



Oct. 11 192".

l e E. GODDARD ARABLE AUTO BODY CONSTRUGT ION SEP

6 Sheets-sheaf, 1

Filed Jan: 29, 1

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53. E. GODDARD AUTO BODY CONSTRUCTION SEPARABLE Filed Jan.- 29. 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 I um/tom G.E.GODDARD SEPARABLE AUTO BODY CONSTRUCTION 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 29, 1923 Oct. 11,1927. 1,644,826

G. E. GODDARD ,SEPARABLE AUTO BODY CONSTRUCTION 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 29, 1923 vwi/wm 5 m rr M 5 vs Q 1,644,823 $11919. G'EGODDARD SEPARABLE AUTO BODY CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 29, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 4 I Alva/rm Z I a gurrmA fys G. E. GODDARD SEPARABLE AUTO BODY CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan 29, 1925 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 I the line 3-3 of Fig.1;

hportion'of the body taken substantiallyon "the line44 ofFig. 1;

i atented Oct. l1, 1927i ara UNITED STATES. PATENT orrics. I

' GEORGE E. GODDARD, 0 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY M ESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 DODGE BROTHERS, INC., A CORPORATIQN 0F MARYLAND.

SEPARABLE AUIG'BODY CONSTRUCTION.

-Application filed January 29, 1923. Serial No. 615,508.

This invention relates to an automobile body construction.

The principal objects of the invention are 7 to improve the construction of automobile bodies and to produce an automobile body construction in which the parts may be more convenientlyenameled or otherwise finished than in prior construction and in which the body may be shipped inknock-plown form and'readily assembled-at its destination" Another object of the invention is to produce an automobile body constructed of units arranged to be shipped in knock-down form and afterward assembled, in which the parts of the units which-are particularly liable to become scratched or di-sligy ured in shipment will be coveredso that they do 'notshovv in the finished automobile body.

With this and other objects'invicw the invention'comprises novel and improved features, constructions and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out: in the claimsgthe advantages. of which will .be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

' The invention will be-clearly understood from the accompanying drawings illustrat-. ing the invention in its preferred form and the following detailed description of the constructions therein shown. w i

In the drawings- I Figure 1 is a view in side; elevation illustratin'g an automobile body construction embodying the invention Fig. 2 is a view partly in side eleva'tion and partly broken away of the body con.- struction, certain parts belng shown in sec tion' Fig. 8 is, a View in horizontal section of a portion of the body takensubstantiallyon Fig. 4 is a view in horizontal section of a f Fig. 5 is a view in vertical section taken in two differentplanes, one on the line 55 of Fig 1 and the other on the line 5" '5 of Fig. 6 is a view in vertical section of the windshield unit;

Fig. 7 isa perspective View of certain parts of the body ready for assembling;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional, view taken substantially on the line 8--8 of Fig. 1;

'tion certain of the parts are assembled in units and these units are afterward assen1- bled to complete thecar body. As the in-. vention is preferably carried out, certain parts are assembled to formv what may be termed a car body proper unit; certain other parts are assembled to form a windshield unit; certain other parts are assembled to form the door-frame unit and still other parts, are assembled toform' a top unit Afterthese units'are produced by the assclnbling of the proper parts, the various units are assembled in the proper relation to coinplete the formation of the car body.

As shown in the drawingsof this application, the car body proper unit is indicated as a whole at 2 and comprises a framework preferably made of metal covered with the usual sheet metal sheathing. Certain parts of the car body unit differ materially from the usual construction to facilitate the as? sembling of the same with the various-other units. body is provided at the sides .with the door openings indicated at 1 and at the'rear oi each .door opening is an upright channel member 6-, forming part of the framework the lower edge of the rear of the top unit and is provided atits opposite ends with notches 10 to receive an upright oneach of the door frame units, these uprights being also received by the channel members 6, as hereinafter described. The plate 8, is provided with a series of bolt holes 11 to re .ceive boltsfor securing together the top and body proper units.

Each of the door frame units comprises an upright 12, the lower portion of which has As shown in the'drawing, the car ,3

loo

40 '4, the body fproperunit is preferab substantially .thecross-seotion shown in Fi s.

4 and 9. To thelower part of this uprig t is attached preferably by welding, a foot.- piece 14 and to the intermediate portion of the upright is also weld-ed anangle-barlti,

the angle-bar being attached at its upper portion only to the upright andhaving its ower portion offset and spacedfrom said upright as shown in said F i s. 7 and 9. The upper part of upright member 12 of the door rame has substantially the cross-section shown in Fig. 11 of the drawing. To-

the upright of the door frame is attached, by means of an, angle bracket 18, a hori zontal frame member composed of two parts indicated at and 22, secured together'and' I having the shape in in Fig. 12, the angle bracket preferably being welded to said upright and horizontal member. To one end of this horizontal member is attached by welding an arm 24 having an opening in its extremity to receive'a pin on the w'nd-shield to connect the door frame with t e wind-shield.

In assemblingthe door frame unit withthe car body proper unit, the upright/12 is applied to the channel member 6 in the manner shown inf Fig. 9, with the outer. flange on the upright contacting with one of the flanges of the channel member 6. and with the an le-bar -16 nesting within the channel member, the foot-piece 14 resting Fig. 5.

upon the base of the car body as shown in The upright on the door frame unit is secured. to the channel member 6' by 'means of a series of bolts 25 (Fig. 9), and

i the foot-piece l i-on said upright is secured to the bottom of bolts 27. I At the forward sideot the, door oeenings' lyconstructed with channels or guides "to receive the car body by means of uprightswhich are formed .on the windshield unit. As shown in the drawing, thecar body-unit forwardly of the door is pro- I vided with a channel member 26 secured, by

Welding, to the body of the car as shown in Fig. 8, a batten 28 being applied to the outer part of the car where this channel'member. To the inside-of this channel member is welded an overlapsthe car body sheathing.

angle-bar -30 having the shape in cross-section shownclearly in Flg. 8 and secured to the channel member 26 as shown in this fig are.- To the flange on the other side of the 'channel member 26 is welded a. plate 31, the angle bar 30, channel member 26 and the plate 31 thus formlng a channel to receive one of the upri hts on the wind shield unit.

The wind-shield unit comprises two uprights upon the upper ends-'ofwhi h t wind-shield frame is mounted, these u rights'being arranged to be in t 6 channels formed by the members 28,30 and 31 of the car bodyv unit.

. COW

cross-section shown The sides of the windshield frame indicated at 33,"are formed by continuations of the two uprights. These side members are connected by a transverse frame member forming the bottom memberof the windshield frame, and the upper member of said frame is formed by a transverse member connecting said side members. The lower part of the transverse frame member 35 is provided with an-inwardly extending curved flange which fits'over the 'rear edge of the and a'batten 39 is provided tocover the joint between certain of the parts. Each gle-bars 32 and 34 welded together at their overlapping flanges, the cross-section of these ars and the manner in which they overlap being clearly shown in Fig. 8. These uprights carry :at' their upper ends 'the wind-shield frame and are provided at their ,lower ends with foot members 36 consisting of ahgle-brackcts, one arm of each of which is'weldcd within theqfgorresponding upright. The uprights on the'wind-sh'ic'ld converge to a certain degree from their upper to their lower ends as clearly shown in Fig. 7 and the channels formed by the members 26, 30

"of the uprights upon which the windshield frameis mounted comprises two anand 31' correspondingly converge so that the uprights on the windshield will fit accurately therein. In assembling the wind-shield unit and the car body unit the upri hts on the wind-shield are inserted in the c annels. 'fdrmed .by.the members 26, 30 and 31 with. the foot-piece 36 resting upon the bottom 'of' the car bod-yes shown in Fig.2. The uprights onthe wind-shield unit are secured to. the angle bar 30 by means of a series of bolts 37 and the foot Pieces 36 are secured to the bottom of the car body unit by means; of bolts39.

The top unit of the car consists of a'fr'amework which may be made of wood or. metal or other suitable material and an outer sheathing preferably made of fibre; leather or imitation leather. As'shown in the drawing the top unit is providedat the bottom of its rear portion with a curved frame piece'38 'ronstructed to fit over the plate 8 on the body. 5' i adjacent portion of the car body unit ,..as-

ahow'n'in Fig. 13, the outside sheathingoh the 'top. being indicated at 42 in this figure; The rtion' of the.top unit at the at;

the our frame is constructed,. as clearly shown in Fig. 11 of the drawing, so asto interfit with the corresponding portion of the upright on the door frame'unit; The top also at this point carries plateset t and 4:6 extending from the frame member 48 of the top so as to overlap the door frame up right as shown inthis figure. Fig. 12 of the drawing show-sthe manner in which the top is fitted and secured to the; horizontal member of the door frame unit, 50 indicating a frame member at the side of the roof portion of the top. The horizontalmember of the door frame unit is secured to the frame member 50 of the top by means ofa series of bolts 56 extending through the member 20, and a series of screws 54 extend ing through the-member 2-2.

The manner in which the doors of the car are fitted to the door frame. at the forward and at the rear margins of the doors is shown in Figs. 10 and 11; the door being indicated at 52 in these figures. .Fig. 12 shows the manner in which the door fits the door frame at the top. v

All of the parts of the wind-shield unit and the door frame unit andnearly all of the parts of the body' proper unit are constructed of metal so that they may well withstand, without injury, the heat of, an enainelin'g oven. In the process of making the car body as preferably carried out, the parts of frame unit and the wind-shield unit are as.- scmbled before the enamel is applied toany of the parts. These units are then enameled and placed in the enamelin'g oven. In the process heretofore ordinarily followed, each of the parts requiring an enamel finish is enameled before it is assembled with other parts, and the sub-sequent handling of the enameled parts in assembling the car has often resulted "in injuryito the finish. The several units of which the present car body made up obviously may be assembled and secured together with comparatively little handling of the parts, so'that there is very.

little liability that the enamel will'be injured in this operation.

The channeling of the parts assembled in units also may be much more rapidly and conveniently accomplished than the enameling of each of the separate parts making up the body before they are assembled.

The present construction also has the marked advantage that the body may be' shipped from'tlie factory in knocked-down form or with the various units disassembled, and the units may be very readily assembled and secured together at. the destination. When he nuitsare in disassembled condition they may be arranged more compactly than in the assembled body, thereby saving considerable spaee in shipping. Furtherthe car bodyproper unit, the-doormore, a large'part of the exposed surfaces of the various units which are liable to become, marred in shipment are covered when I the units 'are assembled so that they cannot be 'seen in the finished car. facesdo not require any special protection during shipment, and the care and time re: quired in packing is greatlyjreduced. For example, the outer surfaces of the uprights on the Windshield are. covered by the chan-' nel members on thecarbody,nnd the plate 8 is covered by the frame member 38 on the.

top-when these parts are assembled. It will, also be noted that certain exposed parts of the door frame unit, the Windshield unit and the top unit also are covered by the fit-' .tin'g'of the units together. This may be clearly seen from an inspection of Figs. 8 to 10 inclusive of the drawings. 4 l

, It is to beunde-rstood that the invention 'isnot limited to the particular application or embodiment thereof 'il-lustrated'and described in the foregoing description, but that the invention may be applied in other ways or embodied in other forms within the scope of the claims.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention, and having specifically described the manner in which the invention. preferablycarriedout, what is claimed is-.' v

1. An automobile ing in combination, a body proper unit hav- .ing door openings, and a curved plate ex: tendingabout unit at the rear of the seat location, a top comprising a roof portion and a rear portion extending about the ,rear of the top, and a plate at the base of said rear portion adapted to overlie and fit the corresponding plate in the body portion.

' 2. An automobile body construction having in combination, a body proper unit havbody construction hav- I has these sur- 4 ing' door openings, and a curved plate extending about the upper part unit at the rear of the seat location, a top comprising a roof portion and a rear portion extending about the rear of the top, a

plate at the base of said rear portion adapted to overlie and fit the corresponding plate.

in the body portion, and a second plate secured to the top at the base Of-Said'rear portion and projecting downwardly below said first'plate to produce an overhang of the top with relation tothe body when the top and body units are assembled.

An automobile body construction comprising a top unit having a roof portion and a. ear portion adapted to extend about the passcngerspace atthe rear of the door openings, a door frame unit having an upright and a horizontal member, the frame members, forthetop-adapted to interfit with said uprightwhen the top unit and door of the body frame unit are assembled, and means for securing said units together in assembled relation;

4; An automobile body construction, having in combination a body proper unit havf mg channel frame members at opposite-ends of the dash,f. a windshield unit having a windshield frame and uprights extending downwardl from said frame and arrange to fit within said channel members, and

ing in combination a body proper unit havi g a channel member at the rear of the door (ypening, a door frame unit having an upright and a bar attached to said upright and and to receive the channel member between them, and means to secure the upright and bar to the'channel member to secure the body unit and door frame unit in assembled relations.

Signed at Detroit, Mich. this fifth day of January, 1923.

GEORGE E. GODDARD. 

